Ambrosia Software's Easy Envelopes Dashboard Widget for Mac OSX
An Introduction
Just out today is Easy Envelopes for Dashboard in OSX 10.4 (Tiger), from long time Mac games & utilities developer Ambrosia Software. It is a FREE widget that allows you to send professional looking envelopes in a 4 step process: Hit It, Address It, Print It, and Mail It! And because it is in dashboard, it always remains at your fingertips, only an F12 click away.
Installation
Installation is of course VERY simple. After downloading the ZIP file from one of the Ambrosia FTP download mirrors, Safari automatically decompresses the files and activates Easy Envelopes, which in turn runs the widget installer. The installer asks you: "DO you want to install the widget Easy Envelopes and open it in Dashboard"; to which you of course answer INSTALL. After this Easy Envelopes opens with a screen asking you whether you wish to KEEP or DELETE it, and to which you of course reply KEEP. If this doesn’t happen automatically, then you yourself can activate the process by simply clicking on the ZIP file to decompress it and then clicking on the widget file that appears on your desktop.
Initial Setup
Easy Envelopes is easy by name and easy by nature. Getting this beast set up is simple. Once activated, simply click on the "i" button to flip the envelope widget over to review the configuration options.
- Clicking on the envelope size image, brings up page setup and allows you to pick the envelope format under the "paper format" option. You can also set the orientation of the envelope as you place it into your specific printer.
- You can then set the font type, size and styles for both the Mailing Address and Return Address. Clicking the "Font…" button brings up the standard OSX typeface management window.
- To specify a return address for the envelope simply select the desired option from the "Return Address" drop menu. You can choose from None, Custom or Image, of which the latter opens a "Find File Location" file browser window.
- After this, you can use either of 2 checkboxes to stipulate whether you want to print your return address on the back of the envelope (I assume as opposed to the front, rather than both) and whether you would like to print USPS barcodes (which may or may not be relevant depending on where you live.
- Once you have setup Easy Envelopes simply click DONE.
Ready to Rock 'n' Roll
Now that Easy Envelopes has been set up you are ready to print envelopes to your heart's content. Simply search through the addresses that you have entered into the OSX Address Book application and select the desired recipient and their address. Having done this, simply click on the stamp containing the image of an inkjet printer and having handled the standard print dialog window your printer should whirr into action. The great thing is that it even handles localization for countries such France, Germany, Italy, Spain and even Japan. So It really would appear to be that EASY!
Conclusion
Easy Envelopes is a great little addition to Dashboard and what’s more it is FREE. It would seem that the hardest part in the entire equation is making sure your printer ink cartridge hasn’t dried up and that the envelope is orientated in your printer’s paper tray the right way. Unfortunately this widget doesn’t cater for those who are tied in to using Microsoft’s Entourage or those who need to use mail merge in Word for mailing lists or labels. However, I suppose the target audience for this cool and wonderfully designed widget isn’t bulk mailers but rather those people with sporadic urges to send out pristinely printed envelopes to their friends and family. MacWorld Magazine obviously recognizes all of this and awarded Easy Envelopes dashboard widget 4.5 mice!
Find out more about Easy Envelopes at Ambrosia SW.
Easy Envelopes 1.0.5 Update
June 26, 2007 -- Ambrosia Software, Inc. announced today the release of EasyEnvelopes 1.0.5. This update provides fixes and enhancements to the free (yes, free!), world-renowned envelope printing widget. EasyEnvelopes works with Mac OS X Tiger 10.4, and now Leopard 10.5 WWDC Release. Print envelopes the quick and easy way with EasyEnvelopes!